a breast augmentation

today, i'd like to talk to you about the differencebetween a breast lift and a breast implant. some times, the lines between these two proceduresgets easily confused, both with patients and with surgeons. it's hard to know what youreally mean. not in the tebbetts world. tebbetts makesall decisions based on measurement, whether we're augmenting, lifting or reducing a breast.when you plan operations by the numbers, you take away all the guess work. so let's look at some of the things that mightdetermine which procedure is best for you. a mastopexy seeks to make the breast perkierand firmer, not bigger. while, breast augmentation, makes what you have bigger simply by usingan implant, but, that's all it is, simply

bigger. a breast implant was never meant tolift a breast or to remove excess skin. so it's really really really important notto ask a procedure or surgery to do something it was never meant to do. a breast that needsa mastopexy might look something like this. while a breast that needs a breast augmentationor an implant is going to look something more like this. but what about this picture? seehow it can get easily confusing? so let's look at some of the anatomic landmarksand measurements that are going to help us make the best decision and provide you withthe best operation. there are certain things about a breast that we simply cannot change,for example; where the inframammary fold starts underneath the breast. that crease, or fold,under the breast started developing when you

were twelve. we can't change the positionof your breast on your torso. we also can't change the width of the breast. however, the breast seems to change over timewith pregnancy, weight gain and weight loss, relative to the two anatomic structures thatwe can't change. so, instead of having, ideally, nipple above the inframammary fold in profile,like it should look in a bra. we would like it to look this way out of a bra. the nippleshould be above the fold. however, with all the changes that happen with our life experiences,sometimes we end up with something that's more like this, where everything is sittingbeneath the fold. so you have to pick this up and put it ina bra, you have to nestle it in there everyday

to get the position that you'd like to have.so, one of the very first measurement we need to look at is nipple to fold and your stretchand you can see here, this distance would be a heck of a lot shorter than this one. an implant is going to go to the bottom ofwhatever we give it to go to and begin to fill from the bottom up. so, if there's toomuch excess skin like there is here, then it's just going to make you a bigger saggierversion of what you are now. so this distance, nipple to fold and yourstretch is one of the very first thing you measure to determine whether you need a mastopexyor an implant. a mastopexy or a breast lift simply seeks to get the nipple above the fold.another important measurement to consider

when trying to figure out which procedureyou need, is how much skin stretch there is. every once in a while, we see someone whomeets the high five criteria in their nipple to fold distance of stretch. they're borderline,they're cut-off patients where they can almost go either way, almost have an implant or havea lift. then you have to factor in how much stretch the skin envelope has had over time. remember, every time it got bigger duringpregnancy, every time this changes. it retracts some, but not all. so that stretch is a veryimportant number that has to be figured in when planning your operation. if this stretchis too much, even though you meet the nipple to fold criteria it's going to require waytoo much implant and way too much weight to

augment your breast. there are limits and by using a scientificallyproved measurement system like high-five, you don't have to guess at those limits. asurgeon can measure and know the best way and procedure to use to change your body.there are several different incisions used to perform a mastopexy, but once again whichincision is best for you needs to be determined by the numbers. the most common mastopexy incision looks somethinglike this. an incision around the aureole vertically down and then the length of theinframammory fold. often it's called an anchor or an inverted t. now, there are shorter versionsthat'll look something like this, that they

call a vertical or a lollipop and then thisone, a doughnut or a benelli. all of these incisions should be discussed thoroughly withyour surgeon after measurements have been taken, because the one that's right for youwill certainly be determined specifically by your breast. i know it's tempting to choose a smaller incisionsometimes, but don't choose it just because it's shorter, because a lot of the times ifyou really need to lift a breast and you choose a smaller incision, it's almost certain tobackfire on you. the incision for a mastopexy is usually a very acceptable trade-off ifyou truly need a lift then your not very likely to worry about the incision later. look atwhat it did for this breast, a lift alone,

just look at this breast and the change thatit made in this breast in just four weeks. this is a before and a four week post op. i know it's hard, if you need a lift, thenyou've probably always been pretty busty, so it's kind of hard to imagine not havingthe same type of look or certainly being smaller, but there are certain things you simply can'tchange and neither can we. so, it's best that you know what we know so we can all be ona level playing field and understand what all of our options are, before you decideto make a change to your body, or simply hope that a procedure will do what you want itto do. the moral of this battle, between lift andimplant, is that they should never be on the

same battlefield at all. there is a type ofbreast that needs a lift, there is a type of breast that needs an implant. rarely, isthere a type of breast that can handle both successfully. so once again, it all comes back to the numbers,it comes back to the measurements. when you measure you can be confident in your decisionsto change your body. i hope the information that we discussed today will be helpful asyou try to decide which operation is best for you; a breast lift or a breast implant. now i know some of you out there are going,wait, wait, wait, wait, what about a breast lift and a breast implant. well now, that'sa whole subject, a whole video in and of itself

and that's what we're going to talk aboutnext time. if you found the information in this video helpful, please subscribe to ourchannel and tell your friends and you can always find out more at thebestbreast.com